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After a couple of late night cooking extravaganzas, I’ve finally managed to work my way through all the remaining plums from my parents’ plum tree. I had vague ideas about doing fancy things with the plums which weren’t used in the jam I made a few days ago, but considering that my parents won’t be back until the end of January, anything I made had to be freezer-friendly, which narrowed down the options somewhat. The plums that The Husband and I had picked were getting riper by the day, and I knew that I needed to do something before they started to go bad. My mum adores stewed plums and they’re ridiculously easy, so I just went with that in the end.

I made three variations of regular stewed plums, and I’m quite pleased with the way they’ve all turned out. They’re now all sealed up in containers and have been banished to the depths of the freezer. I honestly can’t look at another plum for quite some time!

My mum, though a huge lover of stewed plums, is usually short on time, so she just chucks them into some water, throws in a bit of sugar and simmers until they’re soft. I wanted to give them a bit of added oomph, and I think these three combinations did the job perfectly. A word of warning, however: if you’re wanting to follow my lead and experiment with different flavours, steer clear of vanilla and honey together in the same batch. You’d think it’d work well with the plums, considering how beautifully the two flavours are with plums on their own, but somehow it just…didn’t work. Other than that, go nuts! Feel free to add extra sugar to any of the following recipes if you prefer.

Forgive the dodgy photography, by the way. The photos for this post were taken at 2am!

STEWED PLUMS WITH CINNAMON & VANILLA

1 kg (2.2 lb) plums, halved and pitted

250 g white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Water

1. Place plums in a large, deep pan. Add sugar, vanilla and cinnamon and stir to combine.

2. Put pan on a medium heat and add water, enough to cover 2/3 of the plums.

3. Simmer until plums have softened (around 15 – 20 minutes).

4. Strain plums over a large bowl, catching all of the juice from the pan.

5. Return juice to the pan and simmer on a medium-high heat for around 10 minutes to help reduce the liquid.

6. Turn off the heat and add the plums back in to the reduced juices. Stir gently to combine.

7. Allow to cool for 10 – 20 minutes before pouring into a labelled, airtight container. Plums may be frozen or kept in the refrigerator, though must be consumed within 3 days if kept in the fridge.